The General Assembly of the International Council on Monuments and Sites, ICOMOS, meeting in Colombo, Sri Lanka, at its tenth session from July 30 to August 7, 1993;

Considering the breadth of the heritage encompassed within the concept of monuments, ensembles and sites;

Considering the great variety of actions and treatments required for the conservation of these heritage resources, and the necessity of a common discipline for their guidance;

Recognizing that many different professions need to collaborate within the common discipline of conservation in the process and require proper education and training in order to guarantee good communication and coordinated action in conservation;

Noting the Venice Charter and related ICOMOS doctrine, and the need to provide a reference for the institutions and bodies involved in developing training programmes, and to assist in defining and building up appropriate standards and criteria suitable to meet the specific cultural and technical requirements in each community or region;

Adopts the following guidelines, and Recommends that they be diffused for the information of appropriate institutions, organizations and authorities.

AIM OF THE GUIDELINES

1. The aim of this document is to promote the establishment of standards and guidelines for education and training in the conservation of monuments, groups of buildings ("ensembles") and sites defined as cultural heritage by the World Heritage Convention of 1972. They include historic buildings, historic areas and towns, archaeological sites, and the contents therein, as well as historic and cultural landscapes. Their conservation is now, and will continue to be a matter of urgency.

CONSERVATION

2. Conservation of cultural heritage is now recognized as resting within the general field of environmental and cultural development. Sustainable management strategies for change which respect cultural heritage require the integration of conservation attitudes with contemporary economic and social goals including tourism.

3. The object of conservation is to prolong the life of cultural heritage and, if possible, to clarify the artistic and historical messages therein without the loss of authenticity and meaning. Conservation is a cultural, artistic, technical and craft activity based on humanistic and scientific studies and systematic research. Conservation must respect the cultural context.

EDUCATIONAL AND TRAINING PROGRAMMES AND COURSES

4. There is a need to develop a holistic approach to our heritage on the basis of cultural pluralism and diversity, respected by professionals, craftspersons and administrators. Conservation requires the ability to observe, analyze and synthesize. The conservationist should have a flexible yet pragmatic approach based on cultural consciousness which should penetrate all practical work, proper education and training, sound judgement and a sense of proportion with an understanding of the community's needs. Many professional and craft skills are involved in this interdisciplinary activity.

5. Conservation works should only be entrusted to persons competent in these specialist activities. Education and training for conservation should produce from a range of professionals, conservationists who are able to:

1. read a monument, ensemble or site and identify its emotional, cultural and use significance;
2. understand the history and technology of monuments, ensembles or sites in order to define their identity, plan for their conservation, and interpret the results of this research;
3. understand the setting of a monument, ensemble or site, their contents and surroundings, in relation to other buildings, gardens or landscapes;
4. find and absorb all available sources of information relevant to the monument, ensemble or site being studied;
5. understand and analyze the behaviour of monuments, ensembles and sites as complex systems;
6. diagnose intrinsic and extrinsic causes of decay as a basis for appropriate action;
7. inspect and make reports intelligible to non-specialist readers of monuments, ensembles or sites, illustrated by graphic means such as sketches and photographs;
8. know, understand and apply Unesco conventions and recommendations, and ICOMOS and other recognized Charters, regulations and guidelines;
9. make balanced judgements based on shared ethical principles, and accept responsibility for the long-term welfare of cultural heritage;
10. recognize when advice must be sought and define the areas of need of study by different specialists, e.g. wall paintings, sculpture and objects of artistic and historical value, and/or studies of materials and systems;
11. give expert advice on maintenance strategies, management policies and the policy framework for environmental protection and preservation of monuments and their contents, and sites;
12. document works executed and make same accessible;
13. work in multi-disciplinary groups using sound methods;
14. be able to work with inhabitants, administrators and planners to resolve conflicts and to develop conservation strategies appropriate to local needs, abilities and resources;

AIMS OF COURSES

6. There is a need to impart knowledge of conservation attitudes and approaches to all those who may have a direct or indirect impact on cultural property.

7. The practice of conservation is interdisciplinary; it therefore follows that courses should also be multidisciplinary. Professionals, including academics and specialized craftspersons, who have already received their normal qualification will need further training in order to become conservationists; equally those who seek to act competently in historic environment.

8. Conservationists should ensure that all artisans and staff working on a monument, ensemble or site respect its significance.

9. Training in disaster preparedness and in methods of mitigating damage to cultural property, by strengthening and improving fire prevention and other security measures, should be included in courses.

10. Traditional crafts are a valuable cultural resource. Craftspersons, already with high level manual skills, should be further trained for conservation work with instruction in the history of their craft, historic details and practices, and the theory of conservation with the need for documentation. Many historic skills will have to be recorded and revived.

ORGANIZATION OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

11. Many satisfactory methods of achieving the required education and training are possible. Variations will depend on traditions and legislation, as well as on administrative and economic context of each cultural region. The active exchange of ideas and opinions on new approaches to education and training between national institutes and at international levels should be encouraged. Collaborative network of individuals and institutions is essential to the success of this exchange.

12. Education and sensitization for conservation should begin in schools and continue in universities and beyond. These institutions have an important role in raising visual and cultural awareness - improving ability to read and understand the elements of our cultural heritage - and giving the cultural preparation needed by candidates for specialist education and training. Practical hands-on training in craft work should be encouraged.

13. Courses for continuing professional development can enlarge on the initial education and training of professionals. Long-term, part-time courses are a valuable method for advanced teaching, and useful in major population centres. Short courses can enlarge attitudes, but cannot teach skills or impart profound understanding of conservation. They can help introduce concepts and techniques of conservation in the management of the built and natural environment and the objects within it.

14. Participants in specialist courses should be of a high calibre normally having had appropriate education and training and practical working experience. Specialist courses should be multidisciplinary with core subjects for all participants, and optional subjects to extend capacities and/or to fill the gaps in previous education and training. To complete the education and training of a conservationist an internship is recommended to give practical experience.

15. Every country or regional group should be encouraged to develop at least one comprehensively organized institute giving education and training and specialist courses. It may take decades to establish a fully competent conservation service. Special short-term measures may therefore be required, including the grafting of new initiatives onto existing programmes in order to lead to fully developed new programmes. National, regional and international exchange of teachers, experts and students should be encouraged. Regular evaluation of conservation training programmes by peers is a necessity.

RESOURCES

16. Resources needed for specialist courses may include e.g.:

1. an adequate number of participants of required level ideally in the range of 15 to 25;
2. a full-time co-ordinator with sufficient administrative support;
3. instructors with sound theoretical knowledge and practical experience in conservation and teaching ability;
4. fully equipped facilities including lecture space with audio-visual equipment, video, etc. studios, laboratories, workshops, seminar rooms, and staff offices;
5. library and documentation centre providing reference collections, facilities for coordinating research, and access to computerized information networks;
6. a range of monuments, ensembles and sites within a reasonable radius.

17. Conservation depends upon documentation adequate for understanding of monuments, ensembles or sites and their respective settings. Each country should have an institute for research and archive for recording its cultural heritage and all conservation works related thereto. The course should work within the archive responsibilities identified at the national level.

18. Funding for teaching fees and subsistence may need special arrangements for mid-career participants as they may already have personal responsibilities.

Given:

• the immense variety and the qualitative and quantitative richness of the archaeological, architectural, historical and artistic, environmental and natural, archival and book heritage existing in Italy.
• the lack of available economic and financial resources,
• the extremely tense climate which is characteristic of the present stage of growth and transformation of Italian society,

Taking into consideration the fundamental cultural contributions continuously provided by Italian experts, not only to the knowledge of the history of art but also to theories of conservation and to the practice of restoration,

Noting also, in comparison with other countries, the permanent involvement of the Parliament, the Italian Government and, above all, of the concerned public services in the conservation of the cultural heritage,

Therefore, in the aim of rendering actions for the integrated conservation of the national, cultural heritage more incisive and more precise, the Italian National Committee, under the patronnage of the Ministry of Cultural Property and of the Environment, recalling the work accomplished at the national symposia of Sorrento (1979) and of Naples (1981), discussed the following theme in Rome (9-10 June 1983) on the basis of earlier studies: "Monuments and Sites: conservation action in Italy today".

After hearing and discussing the reports and communications, the symposium noted the serious deficiencies which exist in Italy today in the field of the conservation and the restoration of the cultural heritage. These deficiencies are due, on the one hand, to the insufficiently clear relationship between theory and practice, and on the other hand, to the inherent dangers of the current political and socio-economic situation.

The Assembly noted specifically:

1. A co-ordination which is rare, even non-existent, among the various bodies involved in conservation at all levels : local, regional, national and international. This situation is aggravated by other factors, such as the lack of an organic structure in these institutions; the separation between the University and the government services in charge of cultural property; the absence of coordination among the Ministries and, above all, between Cultural Affairs and Public Works, though the latter provides considerable funding for the architectural heritage.
2. Serious consequences due to the fact that architectural restoration operations are too often awarded to insufficiently qualified professionals of the private and public sector. This situation proves the absolute necessity to employ competent restorers, having received university level training and post-graduate level specialized training.
3. Ulterior consequences due to the unsupervised work of new, unqualified, private contractors on monuments, historic centres and sites. This phenomenon has been accentuated by the poor health of the construction industry which has led certain contractors toward restoration work despite their lack of training, under the cover of recent, ambiguous legislation on architecture and town planning. This legislation is itself an expression of the present state of general confusion.

The Assembly, proposing to remedy point by point the aforementioned deficiencies and the errors attached to them,

1. requests of the Parliament, the Government and the competent controlling bodies, a total involvement in the coordination of the administrative, didactic, normative, technical and cultural initiatives taken by national and international organisms, for a careful programming of architectural operations and for the rigourous supervision of the real qualifications of professionals and contractors working in the field of restoration.
2. confirms and adopts the contents and conclusions of the "International Meeting of Co-ordinators for Training in Architectural Conservation" (organized by ICCROM, Rome, December 1982). During that meeting, the Assembly did indeed confirm the utmost importance of: the training of specialized personnel, in the historical and technical fields, in architecture and town planning who should be employed for all restoration work, according to the recognized multidisciplinary, scientific method of conservation work; and the strengthening of the competent international organizations for education and cultural training, such as ICCROM.

By the formulation of these recommendations to competent organisms and to the cultural world, the Assembly confirms the intention of ICOMOS to act and its readiness to co-operate for the most rapid practical application of these recommendations.

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At the invitation of the ICOMOS National Committee of the German Democratic Republic, participants from 11 countries held a symposium in Dresden from November 15th to 19th, 1982 on the subject of the "Reconstruction of Monuments Destroyed by War".

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The meeting:

• has observed once again in Dresden with profound shock, what terrible suffering and losses war causes for people and their cultural property,
• recognized the achievement of the government and people of the German Democratic Republic, in reclaiming a substantial part of their treasures that had been damaged or believed lost, and in particular, architectural monuments,
• against this background gives its full support to the recommendation (No. 308) of the 2nd World Conference of Unesco (Mexico, August 1982), concerning the prevention of wars,
• and agrees also with the resolution concerning the same subject, adopted by the VIth General Assembly of ICOMOS in 1981 in Rome.

The meeting summarizes the results of its discussions in the following basic assessment:

1. The task of social development after the war, the reconstruction of towns and villages, and the resulting task of the protection of monuments constitutes a single entity. The spiritual values of monuments and the desire to acknowledge them both intellectually and politically were the reasons for initiating their reconstruction.
2. The objective and the practical efforts of governments and peoples in the restoration of monuments and the preservation of the character of towns and villages which has evolved over time have been, and will remain to be of great importance for the bond between peoples and their native lands and for their participation in social progress in their country.
3. A great cultural effect has been and will be achieved in such places where protection and meticulous preservation of monuments go hand in hand with efforts to restore their impact and to promote the understanding of them, and where existing monuments have been harmoniously complemented by new works of architecture, respecting and enhancing typical urban ensembles including their natural setting.
4. Since men have been influenced by the wartime destruction and by reconstruction work after the war to regard monuments with increasing interest, in particular as providing evidence of history, fresh emphasis has been placed on the demand to preserve the original substance of the monument. By this is meant that substance which, in all those components which make it worthy of being recognized as a monument, has grown through the ages, and which, by virtue of its authenticity, confirms the origins of the monument and its historical evolution up to the present day.
5. Reconstruction gave fresh impetus to basic studies and to intensive research by means of archaeology, for new modes of documenting results in monument protection. Completion of the documentation of individual monuments and of the stock of monuments is also recognized as an urgent task for the protection of monuments from the consequences of armed conflicts and catastrophes.
6. The new interest in the intellectual acknowledgement of monuments has frequently given rise to the wish to restore a monument by reason of its meaning and impact, in addition to mere preservation. The type and scope of restoration have been and continue to be dependent on the significance and specific character of the monument, on the extent of destruction, and of the cultural and political function attached to it.
7. In reconstructing monuments destroyed by war various techniques have been developed. A multiplicity of factors have to be taken into account in each individual case. These range from the conservation of a monument for its symbolic value to the restoration of a townscape condition which cannot be abandoned.
8. In the restoration of monuments destroyed by war special care should be taken that the historic development up to the present time can be traced. This applies to the elements of monuments from different periods as well as other evidence of its fate. This might include modern elements which have been added in a responsible manner. The complete reconstruction of severely damaged monuments must be regarded as an exceptional circumstance which is justified only for special reasons resulting from the destruction of a monument of great significance by war. Such a reconstruction must be based on reliable documentation of its condition before destruction.
9. The need to continue the traditional use of a building has frequently accelerated the restoration of destroyed architectural monuments. Increasing awareness of the spiritual value of monuments has further encouraged this trend. This concerns to a large extent residential houses in towns and villages as well as town-halls, churches, and other historic buildings.
10. The destruction of a monument frequently results in completely new objectives for social use and their understanding after its reconstruction being established. This may range from the efforts to find a use of great public significance to residential use.
11. In the task of reconstructing monuments, a highly meticulous scientific methodology has evolved, as well as skills in technology, artistry and craftsmanship. Arising from the legitimate desire of peoples to restore damaged monuments as completely as possible to their national significance, necessary restoration work, going beyond conservation, has attained a high professional level and thereby a new cultural dimension as well.
12. More and more clearly, peoples combine pride in monuments of their own history with interest in monuments of other countries and with respect for cultural achievements, both past and present, of the peoples represented by these monuments. Worldwide exchange of knowledge and experience on characteristic features, historical evidence, and the beauty of the cultural heritage, especially the monuments of every people and each ethnic and social group, plays a constructive role in assuring equitable, peaceful co-existence between peoples.

Our experience working in the field of monuments protection, in seeing the terrible loss of human life and the destruction of cultural treasures by wars, our experience in the beautiful and responsible work of restoring and newly understanding these monuments, place an obligation on all of us to make every effort for a more secure peace in the world on the basis of assiduous international cooperation and disarmament.

Dresden, November 18th, 1982

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